One morning on the way to the office I saw a banner hanging from a lamp post that said: Unknown Disorder. It made me think of the way I am filled with poetry as I walk… and suddenly I was back in a highschool English class learning the names of figures of speech.
Unknown Disorder
I have an unknown disorder,
a type of poetry.
Susceptible to metaphor,
sometimes, synecdoche.
A simile can be an axe,
but with a sharper blade.
Who takes the part to mean the whole
by words may be betrayed.
A hand in marriage does not mean
a heart and soul for life.
Nor “silver sails all out of the west”
prove ships are just in sight.
The sweetest words need grains of salt;
Don’t take them literally.
Be on your guard for metaphor
and shun synecdoche!
Poolside Laureate 